If Dallas Eakins were to look at Friday night Calder Cup final opener from that perspective, maybe he’ll feel pretty good about the night.

Even with, by his estimate, a “dozen” players struggling through off nights in addition to the absence of his three best forwards due to injury, the Toronto Marlies had the goalie out with a two-man advantage in the final minute of play and a chance to tie against hockey’s hottest team, the Norfolk Admirals.

The Admirals, however, found that open net to seal a 3-1 victory, their 40th in 43 games, and drew first blood in a series that if it continues along the themes established in the opener will be long, drawn out and nasty.

For two teams who had never played, not just this season but ever, there was lots and lots of surprising unfriendliness on display, some of which worked in the Marlies favour in that it delivered 10 power play chances.

And misfired on every single one of them.

“Our power play has struggled all season,” sighed Eakins afterwards. “But like our individual players, I expect it to rebound.”

Game 2 in the series goes Saturday night before switching to Toronto for the next three, and the Marlies have to hope that with Matt Frattin, Nazem Kadri and Mike Zigomanis all out of the lineup, some of their remaining skill players will wake up before this series gets out of hand.

At the top of that list would be defenceman Jake Gardiner, an impressive rookie at the NHL level this season, but a youngster who has had an up-and-down post-season with the Marlies and had just a horrible outing against the Admirals on Friday night. Gardiner gave the puck away time after time, seemed to play with little urgency and even was out-legged to a loose puck in the dying seconds that resulted in the short-handed, empty net goal.

Industrious Greg Scott was probably Toronto’s best forward, and Juraj Mikus the team’s best defenceman. Perhaps the most encouraging news was that big Joe Colborne had a pretty good night, although Gardiner nearly got him killed late in the third with a suicide pass.

“There were three or four forwards I was happy with,” said Eakins. “Maybe two defencemen.”

With all the injuries, Eakins doesn’t have major personnel options. He could put newly-signed collegian Spencer Abbott back in for Game 2 for a little offence, or even newly arrived junior Greg McKegg, but that would be asking a lot of those youngsters.

On an ice surface at the Scope that John Brophy, a hockey legend in these parts, once called “the worst in hockey,” both teams struggled to get the puck to behave when good scoring opportunities arose. That said, the Marlies were often guilty of trying to make clever play on the rutted, soft surface, such as a three-on-one break one which Gardiner and Nicolas Deschamps got cute and ended up without a shot.

The Admirals got one early from league MVP Cory Conacher of Burlington, Ont., and then a power play score in the second from Tyler Johnson. That was enough, although a third period score by Carter Ashton, a former Admiral in his first game back from a concussion, made the final minutes interesting.

“That was the feeling-out game,” said Norfolk coach Jon Cooper. “So I guess the first one goes to us.”

Ben Scrivens was terrific with 38 saves in the Toronto net, and he had to be as the Admirals could easily have raced out to a two- or three-goal lead in the first period.

Against a bigger Marlie team that probably hopes to soften up its opponent as the series wears on, the Admirals gave as much as they took in the physical department. The game included one post-whistle scrum after another, with lots of face-washing and very inconsistent officiating that allowed the nonsense to go on all night.

“There was one fight and there probably could have been six more,” said Cooper. “These are two tough teams. One team’s going to push, and the other one’s going to push back. I don’t think any team is going to be intimidated out there.”

Before the game even started, the Admirals were in a self-congratulatory mode, unfurling three new banners — including one for their record 28-game winning streak — and accepting a trophy for winning their conference.

Cheeky, maybe, but they’ve earned all that with a spectacular, record-setting season. They’ll be lifting a bigger trophy, and putting up a bigger banner, if their opponents from the Great White North don’t start bringing their “A” game, and soon.

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